Eve Barnard makes waves in the pool and the classroom

Eve Barnard Evangelina "Eve" Barnard is 16 and already a junior in college, halfway through a four-year program at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner.

She's also on a Silver Award Swim team at the Greenwood Memorial Pool in Gardner and recently received an award for having one of the top 10 swim times in New England.

"I was third in the 200 backstroke and sixth in the 100 backstroke," says Eve. She received a New England Swim award from Ed Moses, the 2000 Olympic silver medallist in the breaststroke.

Eve was home schooled by her parents through the eighth grade level when she decided she wanted to learn from different people and be in a different environment.

"I was ready for a change. Being at home does get boring," she says.

Eve's test scores showed she was well beyond the high school level. It was determined she'd do fine at college, so at 14 she skipped high school and enrolled at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester where she spent her freshman year before transferring to Mount Wachusett.

"There are other dual enrolled students there," says Eve. "Some are 50-60 years old and others are young. Age doesn't matter at a community college.

Eve Barnard received a New England swim award from Olympic silver medalist Ed Moses. "Going to a community college is a little easier. I was a bit young to go directly to college, plus I want to swim in college so I had to get faster to be able to do that."

One of the draws to going to the MWCC is its proximity to the Greenwood Pool in Gardner, where Eve had been swimming for about two years.

"I came to Greenwood for more advanced training. Don Lemieux is a very well-known coach who has coached many international qualifiers, and he's been at Greenwood for more than 20 years," she says. "I heard about him and I wanted to go to a higher level and he's the one who can take me there."

Eve is now on the pre-national team with other swimmers who have the potential to move on to the national team.

"We have 14 swimmers in our group right now. You do a lot of training, swimming, exercises such as push-ups and weight training. I go to the weight room three times a week for an hour and I swim 20 hours a week," she says.

In addition, Eve exercises at home, runs and bike rides, and eats a balanced diet.

"You have to eat more because you're exercising more," she says. At 5'3'' and 100 pounds, she's small, but according to Eve, "Size for swimming doesn't matter that much. It's strength more than size and being able to pull body weight through the water."

The Greenwood Team has branches at WPI and in Keene, N.H. Team members have set practice schedules and competitive meets once or twice a month in the spring and championship and sectional meets at the end of the summer.

National level meets are held for swimmers from all over New England. "You have to meet a certain cut time to qualify for the nationals. I'm pretty close, about a couple of seconds away in the backstroke for junior nationals and about six seconds off for the nationals," Eve says.

Eve has taken SAT and MCAS tests at Gardner High School, where she is dual enrolled, which allows her to attend any high school function. When she's not attending classes at the MWCC, Eve can be found at the pool, either in Gardner or at the college. The backstroke and sprint freestyle are her specialties.

Because she wants to be a personal trainer, sports therapist or pursue a career in sports medicine, Eve is taking courses on the body and how it works with an aim toward obtaining a degree in physical fitness.

After four years at the Mount, Eve will have her associate's degree then plans to attend a four-year college, probably in the Ivy League. At the same she'll receive her high school diploma from Gardner High School. When asked what she wanted for her 16th birthday, Eve said she wanted to see "Body Works" at the Boston Museum of Science, an exhibit of preserved human bodies.

She's already heard from Cornell and plans to visit colleges next summer.

In December, Eve and her family will visit relatives in New Zealand and she plans to compete in the New Zealand Nationals.

"If you finish first or second in the nationals you can participate in an international meet anywhere in the world," she says. "I just love it [swimming]. Basically, I'm just trying to get faster. The first step was the sectionals, then junior nationals and then senior nationals."

Eve has been involved with Heifer International since she was two years old. Recently she's filled the role of guinea pig manager, breeding the animals and making sure they have homes for the winter. She also volunteers at NEADS working with the puppies, and is involved with the Interfaith Hospitality Network at her church in Sterling.